Track & Field: Throwers dominate Princeton Open

Senior Alex Pessala edged out sophomore Craig Pearce in the men’s hammer throw, winning by more than two meters. Pessala’s remarkable toss of 20.14 meters was a personal best and met the NCAA provisional qualifying standards.

“There were many good throwers at the meet, so it made producing a big [personal record] that much easier,” Pessala said, adding that he is setting his goals high. “With the way training and competitions have been going, I hope to end the season as an All-American.”

Freshman Ivan Charbonneau was the fastest man on the track but barely, winning the 60m dash with a time of 7.03 seconds and edging Louis Antenor of St. Peter’s by one-hundredth of a second. Senior Ian Thomson was the only sprinter to break the 50-second barrier in the 400m, cruising home in a time of 49.58 seconds and winning by nearly a second-and-a half. The Tigers swept the top four spots in the 500m dash, with sophomore Mike Eddy coming in first at one minute, 4.74 seconds.

“With all of the injuries that have been occurring over the past couple weeks, it was extremely important for each member of our team to step up to the plate this past weekend,” Thomson said. “With the overwhelming amount of top Princeton finishes, it looks like the team is really ready to work on all cylinders.”

Princeton extended its dominance to the middle-distance events as well. Assistant coach Jeff Zodda, running unattached, won the 800m run in 1:54.09, and the next four finishers were all Tigers. Sophomore Kyle Soloff added to his impressive season by winning the mile in 4:10.82, beating freshman Brian Leung by a little more than two seconds. The Tigers also won the 4x400m relay with a scorching 3:22.78.

“As far as the rest of the season goes, I just want to be able to help the team at [the Heptagonal Championships],” Soloff said. “It will be pretty difficult to score, but I think that if the season continues to go well, I’ll have a chance.”

Princeton athletes consistently placed at the top of the standings in the field events as well. Junior Ian Fox won the high jump after clearing 2.11 meters. The long jump belonged to junior Scott Henkelman, whose 6.89-meter jump barely put him in front of two athletes from Manhattan College. The Tigers took the top two spots in the pole vault, and freshman David Slovenski’s 5.15-meter effort was good enough for first place.

The women’s 60m dash could easily have been mistaken for a practice session, with Tigers taking all of the top six spots. Freshman Eileen Moran finished first with a time of 7.2 seconds. Moran also led a Princeton sweep of the first three positions in the 200m, winning comfortably in 25.74 seconds. The 500m dash was no different, with the top two spots going to Princeton: Freshman Michelle Yousefian obliterated the field with a time of 1:19.21, winning by more than three seconds.

“I do not really like the event,” Yousefian said, adding that she prefers the 400m. “It was very nice to have a victory at this home meet to help me gear up for Heps, which I can’t wait to run in for the first time.”

Yousefian’s enthusiasm is shared by her teammates, who make a remarkable group of young sprinters that should dominate the Ivy League for the next few years. Sophomore Lauren Barber dominated the 60m hurdles, putting in a time of nine seconds.

The Tigers kept up in the field events. Senior Jessica Kloss won the pole vault with a 3.75-meter effort, closely followed by freshman Lydia Arias. Sophomore Thanithia Billings won the shot put with a dominant throw of 14.22 meters, beating out the rest of the competition by nearly two meters.

Saturday’s performance was even more impressive considering that the women’s team was without some of its top runners, such as junior Reilly Kiernan, who competed at the New Balance Invitational at the Armory in New York.

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She took advantage of the elite competition, crowd noise and historically fast surface to qualify provisionally for the NCAA Championships in the 3,000m, finishing at 9:31.20 and besting her personal best by seven seconds. Kiernan is an associate editor for news for The Daily Princetonian.

“It’s funny, as soon as you hit one goal, you start thinking about another,” Kiernan said. “I know I have more in me, and I would love to break 9:30 this year. Our biggest team goal is to win Heps. It’s going to be a close fight this year, and we will all need to step up and contribute great individual performances.”

The Tigers will not be able to walk into the Heps expecting to sweep every event, as they will face tougher challenges from some of the other Ivy League programs. Still, Princeton demonstrated its strength in nearly every event on its home track, leaving little doubt that it is capable of sweeps in both men’s and women’s competition.

“Although the competition [last weekend] was stagnant,” Thomson said of this past weekend, “it was an important preparation for the upcoming Ivy League Championship meet,” where both the men’s and women’s teams should be considered serious contenders.